1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to sports balls, and more particularly to baseballs for use in ball-throwing machines, particularly of the type having at least one drive wheel. The ball has particular applicability as a baseball for a pitching machine for both professional and amateur athletes in that it realistically recreates the stitching pattern on regulation baseballs so as to allow a batter to identify the rotation of the ball in flight.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Pitching machines and ball-throwing machines are well-known in the art and generally fall into four categories: (1) machines that employ a spring actuated arm mechanism to propel the ball; (2) machines that employ at least one rotating wheel or a pair of rotating, coacting wheels to propel the ball; (3) machines that rely on pneumatic pressure to propel the ball; and (4) machines that employ converging and diverging rotatable discs to propel the ball.
Examples of ball-throwing machines that employ a spring mechanism to propel the ball are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,757,759 which issued on Sep. 11, 1973 to J. G. Haworth for Automatically. Varied Oscillation Type Ball Projecting Device and U.S. Pat. No. 4,524,749 which issued on Jun. 25, 1985 to Paul S. Giovagnoli for Spring-Type Ball Pitching Machine. Commercial versions of such a machine have been marketed by Master Pitching Machine of Kansas City, Mo.
In recent years, the majority of the commercially available ball-throwing or pitching machines employ one or two coacting rotating wheels which are used to propel a ball that is introduced into the nip between the rotating wheels or between a plate and a single rotating wheel. Examples of such machines are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,724,437 which issued on Apr. 3, 1973 to E. W. Halstead for Ball-throwing Machine; U.S. Pat. No. 3,815,567 which issued on Jun. 11, 1974 to Norman S. Serra for Coacting Wheel Ball Projecting Device; U.S. Pat. No. 4,197,827 which issued to Tommy L. Smith on Apr. 15, 1980 for Coacting Wheel Ball Projecting Device; U.S. Pat. No. 4,423,717 which issued to Edward W. Kahelin on Jan. 3, 1984 for Variable Double Wheel Ball Propelling Machine; U.S. Pat. No. 4,583,514 which issued to Fujio Nozato on Apr. 22, 1986 for a Ball-throwing Machine; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,922,885 which issued to Shigery Iwabuchi et al. on May 8, 1990 for a Pitching Machine. Commercial machines that employ a pair of rotating coacting wheels are marketed by The Jugs Company of Tualatin, Oregon, ATEC of Sparks, Nev., AAI American Athletic, Inc. of Jefferson, Iowa, K-Lin Specialties, Inc. of Huntington Beach, Calif. and OMNI Sports Technologies of Kansas City, Mo.
A problem with such ball-throwing machines, particularly those which utilize coacting wheels, is that regulation baseballs often cannot be used, for a variety reasons. Primary among such reasons is that the stitching on the surface of the ball interferes with the driving means such that the balls are hot accurately thrown. Accordingly, specially-designed balls have been designed for use with such ball-throwing machines. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,256,304, which issued to Smith, et al. on Mar. 17, 1981 for a xe2x80x9cBaseballxe2x80x9d discloses a baseball suitable for continuous use in a pitching machine comprising a molded, resilient polyurethane foam sphere having a smooth polyurethane surface skin, with the surface of the sphere being provided with a regular pattern comprising a multiplicity of cup-like or hemispherical depressions substantially covering the surface.
However, these specially designed balls do not accurately simulate regulation baseballs in that there is no stitching by which a batter may determine the angular rotation of the ball.
Against the foregoing background, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved ball for use in a pitching machine that includes a stitching pattern for a batter to determine the angular rotation of the ball in flight.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a ball that is durable so as to withstand the continued, high-stress use in a pitching machine and being struck by a bat.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide such a ball that physically resembles a regulation baseball in size and weight, as well as appearance.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide such a ball that is inexpensive to manufacture.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a ball that induces turbulent airflow over the surface thereof so as to reduce drag and increase accuracy.
To the accomplishments of the foregoing objects and advantages, the present invention, in brief summary, comprises a ball for use with a pitching machine, said ball having a smooth surface in which a plurality of indentations or dimples are regularly spaced. The inner surfaces of one or more of these indentations is colored with a dye or paint such that the rotational velocity of the baseball may be determined when the ball is in flight. The colored indentations are patterned so as to simulate the stitching on a regulation baseball. In a particularly preferred embodiment, a plurality of recessed slots are provided to simulate the stitch pattern of an actual baseball, and the inner portion of such recessed slots are colored with a paint or dye to provide a visual impression of stitching.